This book, the only biography ever authorized by a sitting President - yet written with complete interpretive freedom - is as revolutionary in method as it is formidable in scholarship. When Ronald Reagan moved into the White House in 1981, one of his first literary guests was Edmund Morris, the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of Theodore Roosevelt. Morris developed a fascination for the genial yet inscrutable president and, after Reagan's landslide reelection in 1984, put aside the second volume of his life of Roosevelt to become an observing eye and ear at the White House.

Coming and going with Reagan's benign approval (I'm not going to ride up San Juan Hill for you), Morris found the president to be a man of extraordinary power and mystery. Although the historic early achievements were plain to see - the restoration of American optimism and patriotism, a repowering of the national economy, a massive arms buildup deliberately forcing the Evil Empire of Soviet Communism to come to terms - nobody, let alone Reagan himself, could explain how he succeeded in shaping events to his will. And when Reagan's second term came to grips with some of the most fundamental moral issues of the late 20th century - at Bitburg and Bergen-Belsen, at Geneva and Reykjavík, publicly outside the Brandenburg Gate (Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!), and deep within the mother monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church - Morris realized that he had taken on a subject of epic dimensions.

Thus began a long biographical pilgrimage to the heart of Ronald Reagan's mystery, beginning with his birth in 1911 in the heart of rural Illinois (where he is still remembered as Dutch, the dreamy son of an alcoholic father and a fiercely religious mother) and progressing through the way stations of an amazingly varied career: young lifeguard (he saved 77 lives), aspiring writer, ace sportscaster, film star, soldier, union leader, corporate spokesman, governor, and president.... Download and start listening now!

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Listener Opinions

by Doug Ebeling | 2/4/2014

" Flawed, as is well-known, yet compelling look at Reagan, particularly interesting regarding his early life. "

by RJ | 1/30/2014

" Difficult to believe how such a good writer (see The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt) could write such dreck here. It's been well documented a lot already, but this was a massive disappointment at the time. The Gipper deserved much better. "

by Len Washko | 1/29/2014

" Loved it. Big Reagan fan. Unique bio. Morris gets inside his head, partly fictionalizing, and brilliantly. You'll understand why he was a giant, will remain a giant, and how he bacame such. You cannot understand the 1970s and 1980s if you do not read this. "

by Jordan | 1/28/2014

" Let me make one thing clear, I am not a fan of Reagan politics, especially how they seem to still haunt us. This book however and in particular the writing style of Edmund Morris is a fantastic read and really makes you like the man, Ronald Reagan. It is also great for learning why Ronald Reagan had the policies he had and also throws in some interesting tid bits such as actor Ronnie being rejected by the California Communist Party. Makes one think.... "

" That a man of reserved and gelid Amour Propre should be remembered as the most beloved President of the last century is only one of the mysteries that Edmund Morris plumbs in this very idiosyncratic but interesting biography of the aptly named Great Communicator...ironically,those who seek to claim his mantle today are ignorant of,or choose to forget,his record(as opposed to his rhetoric)as a pragmatic politician who made abortion more available,raised taxes,increased the debt ceiling more than a dozen times,traded Arms for Hostages,jaw-boned with the Evil Empire and generally Flew-By-The-Seat-Of-His-Pants in Diplomacy with very mixed results...while not a hagiography,"Dutch" shows on every page the affection that Morris felt for a man who was idolised by millions but known by very few,if any...the last few years in office are sketched briefly but effectively as Reagan deteriorates physically and mentally giving rise to an earned pity for him that I would have thought impossible to evoke...wife Nancy and son Ron contribute many interviews that help humanise,as far as possible,the Riddle Wrapped in an Enigma that was Ronald Reagan... "

Cindy | 1/25/2014

" This is partly fiction. I was disappointed to learn it was not all accurate. "

Jim Golden | 1/21/2014

" Fascinating book, about the greatest President of my life time and one of the best in the history of this Country! "

Matt | 1/19/2014

" I don't know if this was the writing style, which came highly recommended, but I couldn't get past it. Too slow of a start, but perhaps sometime I will pick it back up again. It IS intriguing. "

Bill | 1/18/2014

" Quite a bizarre take on a great President. I enjoyed it, but found the author a bit harsh. "

Marlene | 1/5/2014

" I found this a bit difficult to read. The author was trying to be clever, but I sometimes felt like it was an autobiography rather than a biography of President Reagan. However, there certainly are some interesting insights into Ronald Reagan. "

James Harper | 1/2/2014

" It is kind of slobbery and praise worthy. The author tries to prove his closeness to RR over the years. It does show some of his frailities and problems in his administration. "

Maggie Aquaro | 1/2/2014

" A long, hard read... "

Scott | 12/29/2013

" Strange book for a biography. Read this one with a sense of humor. Morris writes himself in as a fictional character in Reagan's life - not one of my favorite biographical devices, that's for sure. "

Judy | 12/23/2013

" I greatly admire Edmund Morris and have really liked every book that I have read by him--this one not so much. "

Jim | 12/16/2013

" Morris wrote way too much about himself in here. Ruined the book for me. I don't think I ever finished it - or if I did, it was completely forgettable. Yuck. "

Tracey Leger-hornby | 12/7/2013

" Never finished it! "

Michael | 7/24/2013

" Just plain awful...You would think with all the access he had to Reagan that he could have come up with a better biography. "

Donnie Edgemon | 4/1/2013

" Morris's insertion of himself into Reagan's biography is pretty weird, but the book is the most comprehensive Reagan bio I've read, and a pretty easy read for such a long book. "

Karamagi | 11/10/2012

" I didn't trully enjoy Morris's 'new journalism' approach, of basically intertwining his life story with that of Ronald Reagan. The book is enormously heavy and hard to get through because of it, and is essentially two books in one. Some may like it, I didn't. "

Shannon Mayne | 3/25/2012

" If you can get past the style (fictional narrator) of this book, the content is fantastic. I have read a few books on Reagan and I greatly enjoyed this one. "

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